Other blogs documenting IV People's Summit/Cumbre de los Pueblos

http://aidemocracy.wordpress.com/ 

http://art-us.org/blog/3

http://www.grassrootsonline.org/news/blog/report-peoples-summit-americas

Thanks, Sarah Frazer, Global Development Program Director, for sharing the information.

Mensaje de la IV Cumbre de los Pueblos a la Cumbre de Gobiernos de la Américas (In English and Spanish)

Report: Surprise March People's Summit of the Americas

Around 10:00AM, on Saturday, April 18th, 2009, an international delegation of the IV People's Summit headed to Port of Spain. We were allegedly on our way to a tour of the city at a moment when Port of Spain was under strict security measures due to the Summit of the Americas. The security zones covered the whole capital, and did not permit many to go to work or find transportation for a week. We intended to enter the security zone and march with FITUN and OWTU members in Cipriani Blvd. Being Cipriani one of the most important figures in the history of labor movements in Trinidad and Tobago, the location of the march had symbolic value. It meant to assert the right of workers' organizations to speak publicly about their concerns at a time when the government had engaged in surveillance and disciplinary measures that limited  the activities planned by the People's Summit. (See previous reports for more information). The unannounced event intended to show that the IV People's Summit had planned to partake of a peaceful march through the capital before the government denied their request last week. 

At 11:00AM, we arrived to Cipriani Blvd. and marched around the statue of Cipriani, while policemen and women arrived to the neighboring plaza. At a press conference, FITUN and OWTU explained that they meant to reassert the right of Trinidadian people to express themselves in their own country. Soon after, the police began to move towards the area and surround the participants. Quickly FITUN and OWTU members moved the international delegation out of the security area and put us in buses on their way back to St. Augustine. In the meantime, union members marched east towards the Cathedral followed closely by heavily armed police. 

Union members described the event as "mission accomplished" because they had successfully avoided a confrontational encounter with the police while asserting their right to freely express their reality as workers. Héctor Moncayo, Colombian delegate of the Hemispheric Social Alliance, said: "Dada las condiciones de este país, parece ser algo muy bueno. Fue una manera de protestar entre otras cosas por las limitaciones que le impusieron a las actividades públicas de la Cumbre" (Considering the conditions found in this country, it seems to be a very good (event). It was one way to protest, among other things, due to the limitations imposed on the public activities of the Summit). Guillermo Churuchumbí, representative of indigenous organizations of the Andean region, affirmed: "Reafirmamos nuestro proceso de resistencia y mobilización. . . . Fue una protesta simbólica frente a la Cumbre de las Américas donde se están discutiendo asuntos de negocios . . . y nosotros no estamos de acuerdo" (We reaffirmed our process of resistance and mobilization . . . It was a symbolic protest with respect to the Summit of the Americas where financial issues are being discussed . . . and we do not agree). As we had previously reported, at the opening of the Summit, Churuchumbí called for a Pan-American project that privileged a "modelo del buen vivir" for all instead of the current model that emphasizes the production of profit for a few and the destruction and privatization of natural resources. 

After the march, the Summit met again at 3:00PM for a final rally at the University of West Indies, which was well attended by the local press. Military police had been more visible throughout campus all day long waiting for the rally. At the rally, a variety of local and international organizations expressed their desire for sustainable economic models and solidarity throughout the Americas. The Summit also released its message to the heads of state of the Americas. At the time of my departure, delegates of different countries and organizations were meeting to finish the official declaration of the Summit. These documents will soon be available online and on this blog. For more pictures of the march, click on the link above this report, http://tinyurl.com/CWZWTZ.

Pictures Direct Action in Port of Spain, April 18th, 2009

Labor unions FITUN (Federation of Independent Trade Unions) and OWTU (Oilfields Workers Trade Union) led a surprise direct action in Port of Spain today. Along with an international delegation, they protested how the state canceled the march planned originally in Port of Spain for this date as well as harrasment by the police and military, including car searches, military presence and surveillance at University of West Indies, and the detention and deportation of people who planned to attend the Summit. They claimed their legal right to speak freely and march. For the whole story, return to this blog.

Obama ofrece trato en igualdad de condiciones a Latinoamérica

Report from IV People's Summit (Spanish version coming soon)

Yesterday the IV People's Summit released a draft of its declaration to the V Summit of the Americas. This declaration will be delivered to the heads of state at the Summit of the Americas. After intense discussion about its content and tone, today it will be voted on. Today people are also strategizing to protest. The Summit had organized a march in Port of Spain that got cancelled by the government, then organized a rally at University of West Indies. However, some participants feel the need to protest the treatment received in Trinidad, the military camp on campus, the helicopters flying over the Summit, and all the detention and even deportation of activists trying to come to the Summit. This morning we should learn more about what will be happening. 

Irmary Reyes-Santos April 18th, 2009, Trinidad and Tobago

Message to North American Leaders Attending the V Summit of the Americas, by Nikhil Aziz, Grassroots International

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 17, 2009

MESSAGE TO NORTH AMERICAN LEADERS ATTENDING THE V SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS - 
from North American Networks, Social Movements and Civil Society

We, the North American networks and organizations, members of the Hemispheric Social Alliance (and others) signing below- participants in the IV Peoples' Summit of the Americas in Trinidad Tobago, during April 16-18, call for swift and dramatic actions from our governments. After having lived with and suffered the negative impacts of 15 years of NAFTA, we are concerned about the expansion to the rest of the Americas of the latest neo-liberal program: the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP).

Three aspects of the SPP that are of most concern include: a) heavily financed security and militarization components, b) an expansion of the model to the rest of the continent c) the surrendering of multiple issues belonging in public domain to corporate control.

For these reasons we are calling on Presidents Calderon (Mexico), Obama (U.S.) and Prime Minister Harper (Canada) to:

• Conduct a fundamental reopening of the debate regarding the future of NAFTA, which includes broad representation of the most impacted sectors.
• Close all of the working groups which have been carrying forward the work of the SPP, and terminate its expansion.
• Announce that they will stop using and criminalizing migrants seeking a better life and will work to remove the root causes behind people abandoning their homes and lands.
• Demilitarize the border between the U.S. and Mexico and bring down the wall.
• Unite behind the imperative to recognize Cuba as a full diplomatic partner in the hemisphere.

Our governments need to recognize the depth and breadth of changes which are happening in the entire hemisphere. There is an urgent need for a changing of attitudes and actions of imposition. This could be demonstrated concretely by:

• Stopping the implementation of all bilateral and regional FTAs, and the abrogation of all existing FTAs.
• Beginning the process of immediately closing all U.S. military bases in the Americas.
• Retiring the U.S. Fourth fleet for all time from the waters of the Americas.
• Renouncing all ‘democracy building' programs, whether done alone or in collaboration with other countries.
• Giving primacy to environmental sustainability and protecting communities from being negatively impacted by mining and other mega projects.
• Stopping the criminalization of social protest.
• Respecting the human and labor rights of all peoples.

It is particularly preoccupying that the official declaration of the V Summit of the Americas makes scant reference to the economic crisis, despite the widespread and devastating impacts being felt by our peoples. These impacts are the result of the irresponsible behavior of a small group of speculators. Therefore, we demand swift action to change the rules of the global economic order and protect the most vulnerable among us.

Alliance for Responsible Trade (ART) United States (TT 868-462-0223) 
Common Frontiers (Canada)
Quebec Network on Continental Integration (RQIC)
Mexican Action Network on Free Trade (RMALC)
Grassroots Global Justice 
Campaña Sin Maíz no hay País
Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de la Industria Nuclear 
Grassroots International